


I Would Give The Stars Above

by slayerette



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Magic, Romance, Witches, Work In Progress, first fic, how do i write, send help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-24 09:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1599875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slayerette/pseuds/slayerette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I'd give you everything and more, and that's for sure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, anyone reading this may be wondering what the frick-frack is going on. That's okay, I am too.  
> I can tell you is this: It's around the end of Junior year, and Willow has moved away from Sunnydale with her family. For reasons.  
> Maybe one of her parents got a job offer. Maybe they've finally taken note of Sunnydale's frankly appalling mortality rate and decided to raise their daughter elsewhere. Maybe they did it for the vine.  
> Who knows. You decide.  
> There was a chapter in which that all takes place, but it was pretty awful and the knowledge that it existed on the web was making me sort of queasy.  
> So I deleted it.  
> Sorry about that.  
> I don't own Buffy.

The drive to South Carolina is long and awfully unpleasant.

The Rosenbergs aren't a close family-they never were, not so long as Willow can remember- so much of the journey is filled with silence. A tense, unforgiving, and for the most part unbroken silence. Willow can scarcely bear it.

The funny thing about the silence though, is that as far as Willow is concerned it isn't half as bad as talking. Every once in a while Sheila decides that they are a family again, and families do things... like visit wax museums and look at the largest ball of yarn in twenty states ( _doesn't that sound exciting, Willow? Ira, pull over_ ) and so that is what the Rosenbergs must do. They don't really talk much, and so eventually Sheila decides that it isn't really worth it before they all pile into the car.

It isn't exactly like Willow is deaf or anything, so she hears just about everything her parents grumble about teenagers in what they believe are hushed voices.

Willow doesn't complain though. It's the first time she's seen them talk, just the two of them, in a long long while. Instead, she practices Latin and tries memorizing new sigils for as long as she can before carsickness forces her gaze out the window.  

They stay in motels without decent internet connections, and Willow is sick for home. In an act motivated by pure, unadulterated teenage angst, she draws an angry dragon in her notebook.

The dragon is silly looking and Willow crumbles it up before tossing it at the trashcan. She misses. 

Traffic and frequent stops force the journey to continue for a total of four days. By the end, Willow has taken homicide as a form of stress relief into serious consideration.

 

* * *

 

It is hot, humid and rainy when the Rosenbergs finally pull into town. They drive slowly down a muddy road past old trees covered in lichens and Willow catches glimpses of a fast running stream through the trees. Her parents seem put off by the weather, as though nobody told them most places weren't as sunny as California.

Loathe as she is to admit it, Willow thinks the place sort of beautiful, albeit in a gloomy sort of way. Long, tangled up masses of Spanish moss sway in wind and Willow counts 1, 2, 3, 4.....4 skinny brown rabbits in the underbrush.

The town is small- smaller than Sunnydale even, and decidedly more peaceful.

It is when Ira turns the corner that Willow sees the girl. She's blue eyed, with brown hair and a kind face- Willow waves at her, for some unknowable reason. The girl doesn't notice, which is likely for the best.

Ira Rosenberg turns another corner and the girl disappears from Willow's line of sight. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe never let me write dialogue, ever.

The following Thursday brings about improvements in regards to the weather. While the temperature and humidity are both a little too high for Willow's liking, the rain has stopped and slight breeze makes the the prospect of venturing outdoors bearable. Willow pulls on a clean t-shirt and a pair of muddy sneakers before heading out to explore the town.

It's pleasant enough. Willow passes the church graveyard, and is struck by how small it is compared to Sunnydale's. For the first time since her arrival, Willow realizes that she can look the townspeople in the eyes, smile, and not have to wonder whether or not they'll be dead within the week.

It's not as though she's stopped missing Sunnydale, of course not-But there is something about the lack of corpses turning up in public spaces that Willow finds rather appealing.

 

* * *

 

Willow stumbles across the town library just a little past noon.

She's sitting on her knees, perusing a shelf full of books on languages (every aspiring witch should learn Latin, it's only practical after all) when she's lightly tapped on the shoulder, and she turns around, put off, because _trying to work here can't this wait? oh, never mind..._

It's the girl from before. She's nervous, very nervous. 

"I uh, sorry, that is, are you? I mean I'd just noticed, you've been here for a while and...well I'm volunteering, so maybe, maybe I could help you find something? Sorry." 

 _Her eyes are very blue_. 

A minute passes before Willow realizes that she's failed to reply, and that she's been staring, just a little.

"Latin!" She blurts out "Latin! I, I need to learn Latin. The language I mean, the one with the Romans and, uh, magic, but mostly, Romans I mean, Romans from Rome, that's in Italy, and you probably knew that. They speak Italian there now, but uh, I mean I'd like to learn Latin."

She's rambling, and sort of wants to drop dead, or possibly just melt into the floor. Neither of those things happen, unfortunately.

Thankfully, The girl is smiling.

"I'm Tara."

"Rosenberg, Willow Rosenberg" Willow cringes. She honestly didn't mean to introduce herself double-O 7 style, it just sort of happened. "Willow, that's my name, but everyone calls me, uh, ...just Willow, actually."

She awkwardly thrusts her hand up towards the girl, Tara, whose arms are too full of books to shake it.

_kill me now._

The brunette offers her an apologetic grin, and is courteous enough not to comment.

"W-well, classics are um, o-over there" Tara nods at a bookshelf near the end of the aisle, "A-and, I, I know Latin so I mean, I could maybe help you out, i-if you want,"

Willow smiles back at her.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter went a little better, maybe?  
> I'm very lost, so if you've got any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

The first lesson with Tara is more than a little awkward. They're both frazzled and blushing, even though Willow isn't quite sure why. In her nervousness, she declines pluvia incorrectly and drops her pen approximately seventeen-thousand times. Tara's eyes continue to be blue, very blue. 

They get ice cream afterwards, and Willow insists on paying, seeing as Tara is tutoring her for free and all (are angels real? demons are, and gods, so it's not like it's completely impossible or anything). Tara orders strawberry, and Willow chooses chocolate chip. The sun is hot, and Willow ends up with sticky ice cream soup all over her hands.

She is mortified. Tara is kind enough to laugh at all of her terrible jokes though, so she ends of waving goodbye with a completely on-top-of-the-world feeling.

 

* * *

 

After that, they fall into a sort of rhythm. 

They meet in the library at half past eleven, and always sit near the window at the back. They study Latin until lunchtime when they walk outside together, laughing at cheesy jokes and complaining about either the heat or the bugs. They travel to the edge of town, usually find a nice tree with plenty of shade, and eat their sandwiches. They have spirited debates over the superiority of their lunches- and really, one day, Tara'll just have to understand how much better peanut butter and banana is than peanut butter and honey.

They wade in the creek to cool off, and occasionally climb trees afterwards. Willow is truly, truly awful at climbing but Tara says she's getting better.

They talk about music-Tara loves The Yardbirds, and Willow really likes Mozart- and lend each other their favorite albums. They talk about movies, books, traveling, aspirations, and the weather. They tell each other funny stories and sad stories and happy stories. They discuss their dreams. They braid each other's hair.

They never talk about boys. Willow is confused, and thinks that they might be kinda gay. She stops being confused one evening in mid-July, when she and Tara sneak out into the woods together to catch fireflies. They're laughing and blushing and then Tara kisses her, right on the mouth.

She feels certain that they're all-the-way-gay, actually, because she kisses Tara back.


End file.
